The future tense - Easy Learning Grammar French

What is the future tense?The future tense is a verb tense used to talk about something that will happen or will be true.

1Using the future tense

In English the future tense is often shown by will or its shortened form ’ll.

What will you do?

The weather will be warm and dry tomorrow.

He’ll be here soon.

I’ll give you a call.

Just as in English, you can use the present tense in French to refer to something that is going to happen in the future.

Je prends le train de dix heures.

I’m taking the ten o’clock train.

Nous allons à Paris la semaine prochaine.

We’re going to Paris next week.

In English we often use going to followed by an infinitive to talk about something that will happen in the immediate future. You can use the French verb aller (meaning to go) followed by an infinitive in the same way.

Tu vas tomber si tu continues.

You’re going to fall if you carry on.

Il va manquer le train.

He’s going to miss the train.

TipRemember that French has no direct equivalent of the word will in verb forms like will rain or will look and so on. You change the French verb ending instead to form the future tense.

2Forming the future tense

To form the future tense in French, you use:

the infinitive of -er and -ir verbs, for example, donner, finir

the infinitive without the final e of -re verbs: for example, attendr-

Then add the correct ending to the stem, depending on whether you are talking about je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles. The endings are the same for -er, -ir and -re verbs.

Note that apart from the nous and vous forms, the endings are the same as the present tense of avoir.

he/she/it/one will givehe/she/it/one will finishhe/she/it/one will wait

nous

-ons

nous donneronsnous finironsnous attendrons

we will givewe will finishwe will wait

vous

-ez

vous donnerezvous finirezvous attendrez

you will giveyou will finishyou will wait

ilselles

-ont

ils/elles donnerontils/elles finirontils/elles attendront

they will givethey will finishthey will wait

Elle te donnera mon adresse.

She’ll give you my address.

Le cours finira à onze heures.

The lesson will finish at eleven o’clock.

Nous t’attendrons devant le cinéma.

We’ll wait for you in front of the cinema.

Tipje changes to j’ in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.

3Spelling changes in -er verbs

As with the present and imperfect tenses, a few -er verbs change their spellings slightly in the future tense. The forms with spelling changes have been underlined in the tables.

With verbs such as appeler (meaning to call), which end in -eler, thel doubles throughout the future tense. The double consonant (ll) affects the pronunciation of the word. In appeler, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in appellerai the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun

Example verb: appeler

j’

appellerai

tu

appelleras

ilelleon

appellera

nous

appellerons

vous

appellerez

ilselles

appelleront

The exceptions to this rule are geler (meaning to freeze) and peler (meaning to peel), which change in the same way as lever (see The future tense).

With verbs such as jeter (meaning to throw), that end in -eter, the t doubles throughout the future tense. The double consonant (tt) affects the pronunciation of the word. In jeter, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in jetterai the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun

Example verb: jeter

je

jetterai

tu

jetteras

ilelleon

jettera

nous

jetterons

vous

jetterez

ilselles

jetteront

The exceptions to this rule include acheter (meaning to buy), which changes in the same way as lever (see The future tense).

With verbs such as nettoyer (meaning to clean), that end in -yer, the y changes to i throughout the future tense.

Pronoun

Example verb: nettoyer

je

nettoierai

tu

nettoieras

ilelleon

nettoiera

nous

nettoierons

vous

nettoierez

ilselles

nettoieront

Verbs ending in -ayer, such as payer (meaning to pay) and essayer (meaning to try), can be spelled with either a y or an i. So je paierai and je payerai, for example, are both correct.

With verbs such as lever (meaning to raise), peser (meaning to weigh) and acheter (meaning to buy),e changes to è throughout the future tense. In lever the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in lèverai and so on the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun

Example verb: lever

je

lèverai

tu

lèveras

ilelleon

lèvera

nous

lèverons

vous

lèverez

ilselles

lèveront

4Reflexive verbs in the future tense

The future tense of reflexive verbs is formed in just the same way as for ordinary verbs, except that you have to remember to give the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se).

Subjectpronoun

Reflexivepronoun

Example withlaver

Meaning

je

me (m’)

laverai

I will wash

tu

te (t’)

laveras

you will wash

ilelleon

se (s’)

lavera

he/she/it/one will wash

nous

nous

laverons

we will wash

vous

vous

laverez

you will wash

ilselles

se (s’)

laveront

they will wash

Tipme changes to m’, te to t’ and se to s’ before a vowel, most words starting with h and the French word y.

5Irregular verbs in the future tense

There are some verbs that do not use their infinitives as the stem for the future tense, including avoir, être, faire and aller, which are shown in full on .

Other irregular verbs include:

Verb

Meaning

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

devoir

to haveto, must

devrai

devras

devra

devrons

devrez

devront

pouvoir

to be ableto, can

pourrai

pourras

pourra

pourrons

pourrez

pourront

savoir

to know

saurai

sauras

saura

saurons

saurez

sauront

tenir

to hold

tiendrai

tiendras

tiendra

tiendrons

tiendrez

tiendront

venir

to come

viendrai

viendras

viendra

viendrons

viendrez

viendront

voir

to see

verrai

verras

verra

verrons

verrez

verront

vouloir

to want

voudrai

voudras

voudra

voudrons

voudrez

voudront

il faut becomes il faudra (meaning it will be necessary to).

il pleut becomes il pleuvra (meaning it will rain).

This is the future tense of avoir:

Pronoun

avoir

Meaning: to have

j’

aurai

I will have

tu

auras

you will have

ilelleon

aura

he/she/it/one will have

nous

aurons

we will have

vous

aurez

you will have

ilselles

auront

they will have

This is the future tense of être:

Pronoun

être

Meaning:to be

je

serai

I will be

tu

seras

you will be

ilelleon

sera

he/she/it/one will be

nous

serons

we will be

vous

serez

you will be

ilselles

seront

they will be

This is the future tense of faire:

Pronoun

faire

Meaning:to do, to make

je

ferai

I will do/make

tu

feras

you will do/make

ilelleon

fera

he/she/it/one will do/make

nous

ferons

we will do/make

vous

ferez

you will do/make

ilselles

feront

they will do/make

This is the future tense of aller:

Pronoun

aller

Meaning:to go

j’

irai

I will go

tu

iras

you will go

ilelleon

ira

he/she/it/one will go

nous

irons

we will go

vous

irez

you will go

ilselles

iront

they will go

For Verb tables, see supplement.

Key points

You can use a present tense in French to talk about something that will happen or be true in the future, just as in English.

You can use aller with an infinitive to refer to things that will happen in the immediate future.

The stem is the same as the infinitive for -er, -ir and -re verbs, except that the final -e of -re verbs is lost.

The future tense endings are the same for -er, -ir and -re verbs:-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

In verbs ending in -eler and -eter:l → ll and t → tt throughout the future tense.

In verbs ending in -yer:y → i throughout the future tense (optional in -ayer verbs).

Some verbs are irregular in the future tense. It is worth learning these in full.